Hola massacre

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The Hola Massacre is an event that took place shortly after the end of the Mau Mau Uprising against British colonial rule in Hola, Kenya.

Contents 1 Event 2 Reactions 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Event

In the Hola detention camp located in Hola, Coast Province.

The prisoners were "the last hard-core remnants of Mau Mau terrorism" ^[1] who had "taken the bloody oaths"^[2], "had killed"^[3] and were "warped by their savagery"^[4].

On March 3, 1959, 85 prisoners were marched outside and ordered to work. They suddenly^[5] refused to take orders. There were about 200 guards, who began beating the prisoners for 3 to 4 hours. When the assault had concluded, 11 prisoners had been beaten to death and around 60 others were seriously injured.

[edit] Reactions

There was a conscious effort by the prison officials to cover up the event at Hola. They claimed that the dead prisoners had drunk contaminated water.^[6] The truth came out however, as the result of an enquiry by a member of the colonial judiciary. As soon as findings were made public, the opposition in England issued a motion condemning Hola.

The camps were closed throughout Kenya, and the prisoners were freed soon after.^[7] The Wolverhampton South MP, Enoch Powell, had spoken in tears of the atrocities carried out at Hola, such was his sense of injustice and outrage at the dent to Britain's good name^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] See also

• Tom Askwith

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Time (June 8, 1959) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892578-1,00.html
2. ^ Time (June 8, 1959) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892578-1,00.html
3. ^ Time (June 8, 1959) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892578-1,00.html
4. ^ Time (June 8, 1959) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892578-1,00.html
5. ^ Time (June 8, 1959) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892578-1,00.html
6. ^ Roth, Andrew. (May 14, 2004) The Guardian Obituary: Sir John Peel - Tory MP whose colonial cast of mind outlived the empire.
7. ^ The Daily Nation (April 15, 2004) Kikuyu hammered on the Anvil.

[edit] References

• Time (June 8, 1959) The Hola Scandal
• Kabukuru, Wanjohi. (December 1, 2003) New African Kenya: The Hola massacre Page 34.
• Clayton, Anthony. (1976) African Affairs 'Counter Insurgency in Kenya: A Study of the Military Operations against the Mau Mau. Transafrica Publishers. ISBN 0-89745-061-2
• Mburu, Stephen. (April 30, 2000) The Daily Nation How detention was used to break people.
• Nissimi, Hilda. (Spring 2006) Journal of Military and Strategic Studies Mau Mau and the decolonisation of Kenya. Publisher: Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute. Vol. 8, Issue 3.
• Preston, Peter. (January 16, 2005) The Observer Our Guantánamo.
• Simpson, Brian. (Spring, 2002) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies The Devlin Commission (1959): Colonialism, Emergencies, and the Rule of Law. Page. 17.
• Slaughter, Barbara. (September 15, 1999) Hartford Web Publishing How Britain crushed the ‘Mau Mau rebellion’; Channel Four TV's Secret History—Mau Mau.
• The Daily Nation (April 22, 2004) Horrors of Hola detention camp.
• The Daily Nation (April 8, 2004) The road to blood bath at Hola Camp.